Education System of India

       Education is the stepping stone for develop country. Education is the only key which can guide an individual to a high flying career thus increasing GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of a nation which lead a common nation to a developed nation. India is a nation, where there are different peoples speaking different languages and having different traditions which is known as ‘unity in diversity’. It is very hard to cover all those people in a single education system. So, there are a lot of drawbacks in education system of India. To discuss education system of India we have to rewind our ancient education system.

Ancient Education system:

        In ancient India, the formal admission ceremony was known as 'Upanayana'. With the accomplishment of this ceremony the child had to leave his home for the 'ashrama' or ‘Gurukul’ where he would receive education. It was supposed to be the re-birth of the child and was known as 'Dvijya', which means, "twice born". Sanskrit was the language of teaching. It was supposed to be the language of learned men. The academies of higher learning were known as 'Parisads'. The education system involved of three basic processes, which included 'Sravana', 'Manana' and 'Nidhyasana'.

         In the 'Sravana' stage of education, students received 'shrutis' knowledge, which was passed orally from one generation to another. The second stage was 'Manana' which means that pupils had to think themselves about what they have heard. They have to make their own inferences and assimilate the lesson taught by their teacher into the life. The third stage 'Nidhyasana' means complete comprehension of truth and its use in the life.
          Women were given the equal right to education and teaching. Women seers like 'Gayatri' were prominent participants in educational debates and the proceedings of the 'Parishads'.( Assemblies) It was mainly the Brahmins followed by Kshatriyas that received education at the Gurukuls while the boys from the lower caste learnt their family trade from their fathers.
         Few of the most important universities of India in the ancient times were Takshashila, Vikramshila and Nalanda. Takshashila University of 7th century BC was famous for medical studies and a galaxy of eminent teachers such as Panini, the well known grammarian, Kautilya, the minister of Chandragupta Maurya, and Charaka, a medical teacher of repute.
         Nalanda was the highest learning center not just of India but also of the entire South Asia. Students from foreign countries like China, Japan, Korea used to come here for higher studies. It had around 10,000 students and teachers on its roll cards. It was one of the earliest examples of residential cum learning complex.
          India had several great minds at work, which contributed in every aspect of life. The concept of zero, decimal and Pythagoras Theorem were all developed here.

Present Education system:

                 The foundation of present education system was laid by Wood’s dispatch in 1854 when British ruled India. With the introduction of Wood's Dispatch known as Magna Carta of Indian education, the whole scenario changed. The main objective of it was to prepare Indian Clerks for running local administration. British government started giving funds to schools in need of help and thus slowly some of the schools became government-aided.

The education systems in India can be classified into following types:

·       Pre- Primary - It consists of children of 3-5 years of age studying in nursery, lower kindergarten and upper kindergarten. At this stage student is given knowledge about school life and is taught to read and write some basic words. It is not a fundamental right in India.

·  Primary - It includes the age group of children of 6-11 years studying in classes from first to fifth. Government has made it mandatory in India.

·  Middle - It consists of children studying in classes from sixth to eighth. It is also made mandatory.

·  Secondary - it includes students studying in classes ninth and tenth.

·  Higher Secondary - Includes students studying in eleventh and twelfth classes.

·  Undergraduate - Here, a student goes through higher education, which is completed in college. This course may vary according to the subject pursued by the student.

·  Postgraduate - After completing graduation a student may opt for post graduation to further add to his qualifications.

Education Governing Bodies:

         The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE): This is the main governing body of education system in India. It conducts exam and looks after the functioning of schools accredited to central education system.

         The Council of Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE): It is a board for Anglo Indian Studies in India. It conducts two examinations 'Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE)' and 'Indian School Certificate (ISC)'. Indian Certificate of secondary education is a k-10 examination for those Indian students who have just completed class 10th and Indian school certificate is a k-12 public examination conducted for those studying in class 12th.

          The State Government Boards: Each state in India has its own State Board of education, which looks after the educational issues.

            The National Open School: It is also known as National Institute of Open Schooling. It was established by the Government Of India in 1989. It is a ray of hope for those students who cannot attend formal schools.

            The International School: It controls the schools, which are accredited to curriculum of international standard.

            Islamic Madrasah Schools: These schools may be either controlled by the state government, run autonomously or may be affiliated with the Darul Uloom Deoband that is in the Sahranpur District of Uttar Pradesh.

Education Policies:

According to the Constitution of India, elementary education is a fundamental right of children in the age group of 6-14 years. India has about 688,000 primary schools and 110,000 secondary schools. The government of India has been introduced many policies to develop the education system. The national policy of education (1986) and program of action (1992) lay down the objectives and features of Indian education policy. It includes:

• Development of International cooperation and peaceful coexistence through education.
• Promotion of equality. It could be achieved by providing equal access and equal condition of success to children.
• A common educational structure (10+2+3) for the whole of India.
• Education for women's equality. The Indian education should be used as a tool to change the status of women in the society.
• Equalization of SC population with others in the matter of education. This is ensured by giving incentives to parents who send their children to schools, providing scholarship to SC students for higher studies, reservation of seats in institution of higher studies in India, recruitment of SC teachers.
• Opening of primary schools in tribal area for promotion of education in ST people.
• Development of curriculum and study material in the language of tribal people.
• Emphasis on the education of minorities.
• Adult education - Initiation of National Literacy Mission, for teaching illiterate people of age group 15-35. And making them aware of the day-to-day realities of their surroundings.
• Special emphasis on early childhood care and education by opening up of day care centers, promotion of child focused programs.
• Increasing the scope of Operation Blackboard for upliftment of standard of primary education in India.
• Secondary education curriculum should expose the students to differentiated roles of science, the humanities, and social science.
• Redesigning of courses of higher education to meet the increasing demand of professionalism.
• Providing enhanced support to the research work in Universities. Efforts to relate ancient Indian knowledge with the contemporary reality.
• Setting up of Open Universities and Distance Learning centers to promote the goal of education as a life long process.
• A combined perspective of technical and management education.
• Minimum exposure to computers and training in their use to be the part of professional education.
• The All India Council for Technical Education will be responsible for maintenance of norms and standards, accreditation, funding, and monitoring of technical and management education in India.
• Multiple task performance for teachers such as teaching, research, development of learning resource material, extension and management of the institution.
• Providing teachers a better deal to make education system in India work in proper way, as teachers are the backbone of the system. Providing better facilities to institutions and improved services to students.
• Development of languages in great deal.
• Measures to be taken for easy accessibility of books at minimum costs to all sections of students.
• Strengthening of science education for the development of spirit of inquiry and objectivity in the minds of students.
• The purpose of examination to be to bring about qualitative improvement in education. It should discourage memorization.
• Methods of teacher recruitment to be recognized one to ensure merit and objectivity in the system.
• Overhauling of the system of teacher education and establishment of District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET) to organize courses for elementary school teachers.
• Reviewing of educational developments by the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE)
• Involvement of local communities for school improvement programmes.
• Review of the implementation of the parameters of the policy every five years,
• Strengthening the base of pyramid of Indian population for proper development of education system in India.

The government has rolled out many plans to increase the percentage of elementary education. The plans such as 'Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), District Primary Education Program (DPEP), Operation Blackboard, Mid Day Meal have been successful to great extent.

Drawbacks of India’s Education System:

After all these policies and plans as India progressed from ancient to medieval its education system deteriorated. Various factors were responsible for the degradation of this most efficient and most ancient education system of the world. Earlier in this article it was mentioned that the present education system was introduced in 1854 by British and their main purpose to prepare Indian Clerks for running local administration. Thus main aim of education becomes job and money rather than knowledge.

The UNESCO’s International Institute of Educational Planning study on corruption in education released recently says that 25% teacher absenteeism in India is among the highest in the world. Politics in teacher appointments and transfers is a major reason for teacher absenteeism according to a professor at National University for Education Planning and Administration.

The teachers are not well qualified and therefore not well paid and therefore are not willing to work hard enough. Government schools are unable to attract good quality teachers due to inadequate teaching facilities and low salaries.

The education system in India is very theoretical based and deep practical or logical knowledge is missing in some or the other way. This education system is more exam-centric. The reservation on the basis of caste and religion is also a negative point in Indian education.

Conclusion:

India needs its Education System to be modified/upgraded as the present system does not help the students to grow up their abilities including personality and merit. The current education system is exam based system where we determine the highest scholar and nothing more than that. Indian education system should focus to develop more human resources than numbers of graduate in the country. More professional courses should be introduced to increase India’s GDP(Gross Domestic Product) thus make India a developed nation.

References:

1)IndiaAcademic.com

2)education-system-india.com

3)Various books, newspaper, magazines and internet sites.

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